I'm very new to offshore. Been reading and preparing my tackles for local offshore trip. Just few weeks ago i managed to find time to join a local offshore trip at southern. Being a newbie, I prepared 2 setup: micro jigging with jigs up to 30g and spinning 1000 reel(pe 0.4), and a light jigging setup with jigs (and tenya/madai) up to 120g and spinning c3000 reel(pe 1).

I'm pretty sure the current and wind was very strong that day even i'm very new to offshore. Guys who were playing baiting none have their sinker vertically down. Everything is "flying"... I brought some Slowfall jigs and obviously those are far far away before it can reach the bottom. actually, i don't think they ever reached the bottom...

My questions is, in such situation, what will you do?
1. continue to play the heaviest jigs despite the jigs are not touching the bottom, and hope something bite? I'm not sure if it even make sense, or productive to slowfall when you line is not even vertical...
2. just do micro and cast against the wind/current, and jig back on mid/top column of the water hoping for some sagai/etc to bite?
3. i even did ajing (which I've never tried before on offshore). but just have no idea how to play it. I'm just slowly twitching, letting go more lines, twitching, lines, retrieved, re-cast, etc. Just feel that it's most probably at the almost top of the water with it's light weight and strong current... Will anything bite when the lure is so high up? Btw, i'm using a jighead that's pointed at its bottom and front, suppose to assist in bringing the lure down.

Offshore is not cheap, in terms of $ and time. Hope to get more knowledge from fellow anglers here before i go out there again and give my ebst shot.

Your setup is fine, perhaps you should choose a day with slow current to accustom to the feel of the fishing in offshore waters. The boat can drift really fast if the wind and current are of opposite direction. Even with wind and current in the same direction, the feel can be awkward because the line will arc quite a bit underwater. Anchoring helps eliminate the the wind factor but that's dependent on the boatman and spot.

In your situation, aside from changing to your heaviest jig, you can lightly cast back against the direction of drift to gain some ground. (That is assuming you're fishing on the most front or back of the boat). You should be able to touch bottom for several seconds before it starts drifting too far. Wind it up and drop again. It can be a very tiring process but it is better to touch bottom for a few seconds than not at all.

Jigs can hit pelagic fishes like trevallies, mackerels and cudas, so you still have a chance of a hit if you did not hit bottom. But again, if it wasn't a spot for pelagic fish, your chances are much better trying to get your jig to the bottom. Ajing is probably not a good idea in strong current unless you're fishing close to a shallow reef.

Questions:
1. When you mentioned cast against the wind and hopefully it will touch the bottom for few seconds, you're referring to continue use the heavy slowfall jig? Can a jigging rod do casting on a heavy jig? If it is possible, is there a safety factor/ratio? eg, 30g-100g jigging rod can possibly cast a 50g jig safely w/o breaking rod? all idare to do was to cast a micro jig with a light jigging rod and I'm already worried...

2. How would you know if the current of the day (or even the wind) will be strong before set sail? I know where i can the tide, not the current, etc. Any gauge will help.

3. About Ajing. What would be a ideal situation to bring that out? I heard it needs some current to be effective. and you mentioned shallow water will be good as well. Anymore I can pick up on ajing?

You don't really 'cast' but rather lobe the jig for a few metres. It's not advisable to cast a heavy jigs on a boat, especially with people around you. For slow fall jigs, hitting the bottom is to let you know you reached your desired strike zone. You don't keep the jig too close to the bottom all the time, as it can be snagged. Because you're drifting, depth can keep changing and you need to touch the bottom every now and so that you can make adjust your jig depth as necessary. For jigs like slowfall, you want to keep your line as vertical as possible to get the desired action.

Current is generally fast during full and new moon and slowest on half moons. Generally. In actual practice, current speed can differ quite a bit depending on the area where we're talking about at a given time. You will need a tidal stream forecast from MPA to get a good prediction. Ewaves Fishbyte sells this book but they have limited quantity. Most boatman have this book.

As for wind, it's a lot harder to predict. But right now, it's the start of northeast monsoon. So expect strong wind and rain in the coming weeks.

For Ajing, it depends what you're targeting for. If it's bottom fishes, you're good to use them so long you can hit bottom. If you're targeting pelagic, having some current is good because that's when the fishes will be more active and concentrated.

A lot of guides and fishing techniques can already be found on the internet, but it does take some thought process to see how they can be effectively applied to our own fishing scenario. That's where we ask questions. I don't mind answering repeated questions so long they are meaningful ones.

I'm not too keen on writing guides, I probably can't do a very good one either. If anyone feels they contribute one, I'll be happy to sticky it.